Learning basic mechatronics concepts

using the Arduino board and MATLAB

Giampiero Campa, PhD, Technical Evangelist

MathWorks, 970 W 190 ST, Suite 530,
Torrance, CA, 90502, USA

giampiero.campa@mathworks.com

© 2014 The MathWorks, Inc.1

Outline

 A few challenges with mechatronics projects

 Arduino introduction, and MathWorks packages

 Analog and Digital IO, blink challenge example

 Servo, DC, and Stepper Motors, Encoders

 Simulink blocks, more details, and useful links

2
Sensing & data acquisition

 Distance/Range, Position/Orientation, Force/Pressure,

Touch, Orientation, Motion/Speed, Environment, Optical,
Chemical, Flow, Voltage/Current, sensor selection is
largely application related but also related to:

 Data acquisition system (Analog and Digital input)

– Number of sensors
– Ranges
– A/D conversion issues as Resolution and Sampling Rate
– Signal Conditioning
– Delay/Bandwidth
– Encoders, Interrupts, SPI, I2C

3
Processing & programming platform

 External Microcontroller/Microprocessor Board

– Development-Prototyping Environment
– Low-Level Programming Language, Compiler/Assembler
– Connection to computer (or LCD) for visualization
– DAQ typically already there
– Stand Alone Issues, power requirements

 Computer
– Connection to DAQ (USB, PCI, Serial, Wireless)
– Programming-Analysis Environment
– OS / Drivers (Real Time ?)
– Embedded / Small Form Factor Computer

4
Acting (digital & analog outputs, PWM)

 Relays

 Motors
– DC/Steppers/Servos
– Signal Amplification
– Power Suppliers, Batteries
– Forward/Reverse, H-Bridges

 Displays

5
Lots of (interrelated) choices

Driving Factors:
 Cost
 Easy of Use
 Flexibility

 Non trivial process even for simple projects

 Some challenges are inherent to the multidisciplinary
nature of the field and it's good for students to struggle
with them (e.g. sensors, actuators, power, design)
 Some are not (e.g. debugging C code, drivers issues,
hardware limitations, unreadable manuals, high costs)

6
Outline

 A few challenges with mechatronics projects

 Arduino introduction, and MathWorks packages

 Analog and Digital IO, blink challenge example

 Servo, DC, and Stepper Motors, Encoders

 Simulink blocks, more details, and useful links

7
Arduino

 Arduino is an open-source microcontroller board, with

an associated development environment.

8
Specifications (Arduino Uno)

 ATmega328 microcontroller
 16 MHz, 32 KB FLASH, 2KB SRAM, 1K EEPROM
 19 DIO pins (6 can be 8-bits 500Hz PWM outputs)
 6 analog inputs (10 bits over 0-5V range, 15kSPS)
 5V operating voltage, 40 mA DC Current per IO Pin
 I2C (TWI) fully supported and SPI partially supported
 Atmega16U2 acting as a USB-to-serial converter
 The OS sees it as a virtual serial port
 Power jack and optional 9V power supplier

9
Shields

 Shields are boards to be mounted on top of the Arduino

 They extend its functionality to control different devices,
acquire data, and so on …

 Examples:
– Motor/Stepper/Servo Shields (Motor Control)
– Multichannel Analog and Digital IO Shields
– Prototyping Shields
– Ethernet and Wireless communication Shields
– Wave Shields (Audio)
– GPS Logging and Accelerometer Shields
– Relay Control Shields

10
What is Arduino good for ?

 Projects requiring Analog and Digital IO

 Mechatronics Projects using Servo, DC or Stepper Motors

 Projects with volume/size and/or budget constraints

 Projects requiring some amount of flexibility and

adaptability (i.e. changing code and functions on the fly)

11
What is Arduino good for ?

 Basically any Mechatronics project requiring sensing and

acting, provided that computational requirements are not
too high (e.g. can't do image processing with it)

 Ideal for undergraduate/graduate Mechatronics Labs and

Projects

 There is a very large community of people using it for all

kind of projects, and a very lively forum where it is
possible to get timely support

12
Outline

 A few challenges with mechatronics projects

 Arduino introduction, and MathWorks packages

 Analog and Digital IO, blink challenge example

 Servo, DC, and Stepper Motors, Encoders

 Simulink blocks, more details, and useful links

13
Same board … different approaches

Communicate with the Develop a model and

board from MATLAB upload it on the board
(or Simulink) via USB

Tethered Approach Embedded Approach

14
MathWorks packages

 Arduino IO Package
– Requires: MATLAB, Optional: Simulink
– Approach: Tethered mode, Main Use: IO from MATLAB.
This is the package explained in this presentation.

 Simulink Support Package for Arduino

– Requires: MATLAB and Simulink
– Approach: Embedded mode

 Embedded Coder Support Package for Arduino

– Requires: MATLAB, Simulink, MATLAB Coder, Simulink
Coder, Embedded coder, Approach: Embedded mode
15
Arduino IO package: concept

Arduino answers to
MATLAB via USB

MATLAB sends a command

or request to the Arduino
board, via USB

16
The Arduino server sketch

 The server sketch is a Finite State Machine (written in

C++) that continuously runs on the Arduino.

Request

Answer

Arduino Side PC Side (MATLAB)

 It listens for commands arriving from the serial port,
executes the commands, and, if needed, returns an
answer.

17
Which sketch do I need to upload ?

 There are 5 different server sketches in order of

increasing complexity:

– adio.pde : analog and digital IO & basic serial

– adioe.pde : adio.pde + encoders support

– adioes.pde : adioe.pde + servo support

– motor_v1.pde : adioes.pde + Adafruit Motor Shield v1

– motor_v2.pde : adioes.pde + Adafruit Motor Shield v2

18
Using MATLAB vs. the Arduino IDE

 MATLAB is more interactive, therefore results from

Digital/Analog I/O instructions can be seen immediately
without needing to program – compile – upload – execute
each time. It is a good idea for algorithm prototyping

 MATLAB code is generally more compact and easier to

understand than C (higher-abstraction data types,
vectorization, no need for initialization/allocation, less
lines of code) which means:
a) MATLAB scales better with project complexity
b) People get the job done faster in MATLAB

19
Using MATLAB vs. the Arduino IDE

 For wider-breadth projects (that might include data

analysis, signal processing, calculations, simulation,
statistics, control design …) MATLAB is better suited

 Engineering Departments typically need to introduce

MATLAB during the first years, so this package will allow
professors to keep the same environment and students to
practice more MATLAB

 People might already be more familiar with MATLAB than

with C, both in industry and university

20
Outline

 A few challenges with mechatronics projects

 Arduino introduction, and MathWorks packages

 Analog and Digital IO, blink challenge example

 Servo, DC, and Stepper Motors, Encoders

 Simulink blocks, more details, and useful links

21
Connect

 Use the command a=arduino('port'), with the

right COM port as a string input argument, to connect
MATLAB with the board and create an Arduino object in
the workspace:

Examples:
>> a=arduino('COM5');
>> a=arduino('/dev/ttyS101');

Of course the board must be plugged in, with the

drivers installed, and one of the supplied sketches
needs to be running on it before the connection.
22
Assign pin mode (input/output)

 Use the command pinMode(a,pin,str)

to get or set the mode of a specified pin:

 Examples:
>> pinMode(a,11,'output')
>> pinMode(a,10,'input')
>> a.pinMode(10,'input')
>> val=pinMode(a,10)
>> pinMode(a,5)
>> pinMode(a);

23
Digital read (digital input)

 Use the command digitalRead(a,pin) to read the

digital status of a pin:

Examples:
>> val=digitalRead(a,4)
>> val=a.digitalRead(4)

This returns the value (0 or 1) read from the digital pin

number 4

24
Digital read example

>> digitalRead(a,4) Command

executed while
ans =
button is released
MATLAB
0
Command
Window >> digitalRead(a,4) Command
executed while
ans = button is pressed

1
25
Digital write (digital output)

 Use the command digitalWrite(a,pin,val)

with the pin as first argument and the value (0 or 1) as
second argument:

 Examples:
digitalWrite(a,13,1); % sets pin #13 high
a.digitalWrite(13,1); % sets pin #13 high
digitalWrite(a,13,0); % sets pin #13 low

26
Digital write example

MATLAB
Command
Window
>> digitalWrite(a,9,1)
>> digitalWrite(a,9,0)
Led Off Led On

27
Analog read (analog input)

 Use the command val=analogRead(a,pin)

with the pin as an integer argument:

 Examples:
val=analogRead(a,0); % reads analog pin #0
val=a.analogRead(5); % reads analog pin #5

 The returned argument ranges from 0 to 1023

 Note that the 6 analog input pins (0 to 5) can be also
addressed as digital pins 14 to 19 and are located on the
bottom right corner of the board

28
Analog read example

MATLAB
>> analogRead(a,3)
Command
Window ans =

285

>> analogRead(a,3)

ans =

855

29
Analog (PWM) write (analog output)

 Use the command analogWrite(a,pin,val) with the

pin as first argument and the value (0 to 255) as second
argument:

 Examples:
analogWrite(a,11,90); % sets pin #11 to 90
a.analogWrite(11,90); % sets pin #11 to 90
analogWrite(a,3,10); % sets pin #3 to 10

 On Uno boards allowed pins are 3, 5, 6, 9, 10 and 11.

The PWM frequency is approx. 980Hz on pins 5 and 6
and approx. 480Hz on the other pins.
30
Analog write example

MATLAB
Command
Window
>> analogWrite(a,9,10)
>> analogWrite(a,9,50)

Led On (4%) Led On (20%)

31
Disconnect

 Use the command delete(a) to disconnect the

MATLAB session from the Arduino board:

Examples:
>> delete(a);
>> a.delete;

 This renders the serial port available for other sessions

or the IDE environment

32
Example : the blink challenge project

 This challenge is described in the last part of the

Ladyada Arduino tutorial,
http://www.ladyada.net/learn/arduino/ and it consists in
designing a circuit with 5 LEDs and 4 modes (user
switches mode by pushing a button):

1. All LEDs Off

2. All LEDs On
3. LEDs blinking simultaneously with variable frequency
regulated by a potentiometer
4. LEDs blinking one after the other (wave like) with
variable speed regulated by a potentiometer

33
Schematic

34
 Information flow
MATLAB
OUTPUTS
INPUTS

USER

35
MATLAB code
% initialize pins % get previous state
disp('Initializing Pins ...'); prev=a.digitalRead(bPin);

% sets digital input pins % start loop

a.pinMode(2, 'INPUT'); disp('Starting main loop, push button to change state ...');
a.pinMode(3, 'INPUT');
a.pinMode(4, 'INPUT'); % loop for 1 minute
a.pinMode(7, 'INPUT'); tic
a.pinMode(8, 'INPUT'); while toc/60 < 1

% sets digital and analog (pwm) output pins
a.pinMode(5, 'OUTPUT'); % pwm available here
a.pinMode(6, 'OUTPUT'); % pwm available here
a.pinMode(9, 'OUTPUT'); % pwm available here
a.pinMode(10,'OUTPUT'); % pwm available here
a.pinMode(11,'OUTPUT'); % pwm available here
a.pinMode(12,'OUTPUT');
a.pinMode(13,'OUTPUT');
% read analog input
ain=a.analogRead(aPin);
v=100*ain/1024;
% read current button value
% note that button has to be kept pressed a few seconds to make sure
% the program reaches this point and changes the current button value
curr=a.digitalRead(bPin);

% button pin and analog pin % button is being released, change state
bPin=2;aPin=2; % delay corresponds to the "on" time of each led in state 3 (wave)
if (curr==1 && prev==0),
% initialize state state=mod(state+1,4);
state=0; disp(['state = ' num2str(state) ', delay = ' num2str(v/200)]);
end

36
MATLAB code

% wave
% toggle state all on or off
if (state==3),
if (state<2), for i=4:8,
for i=9:13, a.digitalWrite(9+mod(i,5),0);
a.digitalWrite(i,state); a.digitalWrite(9+mod(i+1,5),1);
end pause(v/200);
end
end
a.digitalWrite(13,0);
end

% blink all leds with variable delay

if (state==2), % update state
for j=0:1, prev=curr;
% analog output pins
for i=9:11, end
a.analogWrite(i,20*(i-8)*j);
end
% digital output only pins
for i=12:13, % turn everything off
a.digitalWrite(i,j); for i=9:13, a.digitalWrite(i,0); end
end
pause((15*v*(1-j)+4*v*j)/1000);
end
end

37
Prototyping shield

 The schematic was implemented using the prototyping

shield:

 This shield allows for an easy prototyping of projects

based on the Arduino board
38
Implementation

Button to
Potentiometer change
to regulate mode
on/off LEDs
delay

Arduino
Board
underneath

39
Outline

 A few challenges with mechatronics projects

 Arduino introduction, and MathWorks packages

 Analog and Digital IO, blink challenge example

 DC and Stepper motors, Servos, Encoders

 Simulink blocks, more details, and useful links

40
Motors and motor shields, quick facts

 Reversing the rotation direction of a Direct Current (DC)

motor requires an H-Bridge circuit.

 More powerful DC and Stepper motors often require an

external power source.

 Motor shields typically provide both an H-Bridge circuit and

connectors for an external power source.

 The “official” Arduino Motor Shield, and the Adafruit (AF)

Motor Shield (Version 1 and Version 2) are very common.
41
 Example: Adafruit motor shield v1
Servo Ports
#1&2

Motor Ports Motor Ports

#1&2 #3&4
Stepper Port #1 Stepper Port #2

Arduino
External Jumper on == same Board
Power power source for both underneath
Connector Arduino and motor shield
42
Example: Adafruit motor shield v1 specs

 2 connections for 5V 'hobby' servos connected to the

Arduino's high-resolution dedicated timer

 Up to 4 bi-directional DC motors with individual 8-bit

speed selection

 Up to 2 stepper motors (unipolar or bipolar) with single

coil, double coil, interleaved or micro-stepping.

 4 H-Bridges: L293D chipset provides 0.6A per bridge

(1.2A peak) with thermal shutdown protection, 4.5V to
36V
43
Motor shields, more quick facts

 The Arduino IO package has specific commands for DC

and Stepper motors with Adafruit Motor shields
 This requires using specific Adafruit Motor libraries and
uploading on the board either the Motor_v1.pde or
Motor_v2.pde sketch (see the readme.txt file).

 The official Arduino Motor Shield only handles 2 DC motors

(no stepper) and it does not rely on any custom library.
 Motors can be operated using just 6 digital pins (3, 8, 9,
11, 12, 13), there are no specific commands or libraries,
and therefore the adio.pde sketch is all that is needed to
operate this shield with the Arduino IO package.
44
DC motor speed (Adafruit motor shield)

 Use the command val=motorSpeed(a,num,spd); to

get or set the speed of a DC motor.
 The second argument, num, is the number of the motor (1
to 4) the third argument is the speed (0 to 255)

 Examples:
motorSpeed(a,4,200);
val=motorSpeed(a,1);
motorSpeed(a,3);
a.motorSpeed;

 Note: nothing moves unless we issue a “motorRun”

command …
45
DC motor run (Adafruit motor shield)

 Use the command motorRun(a,num,dir); to run a

given DC motor.
 The second argument, num, is the number of the motor
(1 to 4) the third argument is a string that can be either
'forward', 'backward', 'release'

 Examples:
motorRun(a,1,'forward');
motorRun(a,3,'backward');
a.motorRun(3,'backward');
motorRun(a,1,'release');

46
DC motor (Adafruit motor shield): example

MATLAB >> motorSpeed(a,3,100)

Command
Window: >> motorRun(a,3,'forward')

(running)

Motor #3

47
Stepper motor speed (Adafruit motor shield)

 Use the command val=stepperSpeed(a,num,spd);

to get or set the speed of a stepper motor.
 The second argument, num, is the number of the motor (1
to 4) the third argument is the speed in RPM (0 to 255)

 Examples:
stepperSpeed(a,2,50)
val=stepperSpeed(a,1);
a.stepperSpeed(3);
stepperSpeed(a);

 Again, nothing moves unless we issue a “stepperStep”

command.
48
Stepper motor step (Adafruit motor shield)

 Use the command

stepperStep(a,num,dir,sty,steps); to advance a
stepper motor of a certain number of steps.
 Where num is the number of the stepper (1 or 2), dir can
be either 'forward', 'backward', 'release', sty is the style
of motion and can be 'single', 'double', 'interleave',
'microstep', steps is the number of steps (0 to 255)

 Examples:
stepperStep(a,1,'forward','interleave',50);
a.stepperStep(1,'forward','microstep',200);
stepperStep(a,1,'backward','double',200);
stepperStep(a,1,'release');
49
 Stepper motor (Adafruit motor shield):
example
MATLAB >> stepperSpeed(a,1,50)
Command
Window: >> stepperStep(a,1,'backward','microstep',100)

Stepper #1 Coil #1

Coil #2

50
Servo motors, quick facts

 Servo motors come already packaged with a rotation

sensor (usually a potentiometer) and a control circuit.

 The reference position is communicated to the control

circuit via a PWM signal.

 The Arduino has a native servo library which allows a

servo to be connected to any PWM pin (specifically the
central red wire goes to +5V, the black or brown one goes
to ground, and the white or orange one must be
connected to a PWM pin).

51
Servo motors, more quick facts

 Servos tend to draw a lot of power so it is better to power

them using a dedicated power source. Powering even
small servos from the Arduino USB connection might
cause resets and connection losses.

 While motor shields are not required to use servos, they

make it easier to do so as they typically have dedicated
connectors for both servos and external power sources.

 You can operate servos with either adioes.pde, Motor_v1,

or Motor_v2 sketches included in the Arduino IO package.

52
Servo status (attached/detached)

 Use the command val=servoStatus(a,pin) to get

the status of the servo attached to a certain PWM pin,
which can be either:
– attached (ready for read or write)
– detached

 Examples:
val=servoStatus(a,9);
servoStatus(a,10);
a.servoStatus(11);
servoStatus(a);

53
Servo attach

 Use the command servoAttach(a,pin) to attach a

servo to the corresponding PWM pin

 Examples:
servoAttach(a,10); % attach servo to pin 10
a.servoAttach(10); % attach servo to pin 10
servoAttach(a,9); % attach servo to pin 9

 Note: on the AF Motor Shield v1 there are 2 servo

connectors, the outermost one uses pin #10, the
innermost one uses pin #9.

54
Servo read

 Use the command val=servoRead(a,pin) to read the

angle from the servo connected to a given PWM pin
 The returned value is the angle in degrees, typically from 0
to 180.

 Examples:
val=servoRead(a,10); % read angle servo #10
val=a.servoRead(10); % read angle servo #10
val=servoRead(a,9); % read angle servo #9

55
Servo write

 Use the command servoWrite(a,pin,angle)

to rotate a servo of a given angle.
 The first argument is the number of the servo, the
second is the angle.

 Examples:
servoWrite(a,10,45); % rotate servo 10 to 45°
a.servoWrite(10,70); % rotate servo 10 to 70°

56
Servo detach

 Use the command servoDetach(a,pin) to detach a

servo from the corresponding PWM pin.

 Examples:
servoDetach(a,10); % detach servo #10
a.servoDetach(10); % detach servo #10
servoDetach(a,9); % detach servo #9

57
Servo example (with Adafruit motor shield v1)

MATLAB >> servoAttach(a,9) Power Jumper External Power:

Command on (suggested) 6V Lantern Battery
Window: >> servoWrite(a,9,5)

>> servoWrite(a,9,180)

>> servoRead(a,9)

ans =

Servo #2 180
(attached to pin 9)

58
Encoder quick facts

 Incremental rotary encoders are used to accurately

measure rotations (angles and angular speeds) .

 They have 3 terminals. The central (common) one should

be connected to ground, while the other two terminals to
digital input pins to which interrupt service routines (ISRs)
can be attached, (the ISR updates a variable holding the
current encoder position as the encoder is rotated, the
user can later read this variable from MATLAB).

 Any Arduino IO sketch except adio.pde can be used to

work with encoders.

59
Encoder attach

 Use the command

encoderAttach(a,enc,pinA,pinB)to attach an
encoder to the interrupt pins pinA and pinB, enc is the
encoder number (0, 1 or 2).

 Example:

encoderAttach(a,0,2,3); % attaches encoder

#0 on pins 2 and 3

60
Encoder status (attached/detached)

 Use the command val=encoderStatus(a,enc) to get

the status of the encoder enc, which can be either:
– attached (ready for read or reset)
– detached

 Examples:
encoderDetach(a,0); % detach encoder #0
a.encoderDetach(1); % detach encoder #1

61
Encoder read

 Use the command val=encoderRead(a,enc) to read

the rotation from a given encoder (enc). The returned
value is an integer from -32768 to +32767 (clockwise
rotations are positive).

 Examples:
val=encoderRead(a,2); % reads encoder #2
val=a.encoderRead(0); % reads encoder #0

 Note, an encoderDebounce(a,enc,delay) function

can be used, if necessary, to set a debounce delay (see
readme.txt and documentation for more info).
62
Encoder reset

 Use the command encoderReset(a,enc) to reset (to

zero) the variable holding the position of encoder enc.

 Examples:
encoderReset(a,1); % resets encoder #1
a.encoderReset(2); % resets encoder #2

63
Encoder detach

 Use the command encoderDetach(a,enc) to detach

the encoder enc from the corresponding interrupt pins.

 Examples:
encoderDetach(a,0); % detach encoder #0
a.encoderDetach(1); % detach encoder #1

64
Encoder example
>> encoderAttach(a,0,3,2)

>> encoderRead(a,0)

ans =
MATLAB
Command 0
Window:
>> encoderRead(a,0)
Encoder terminals A and B attached to
pins 3 and 2 ans =

44

Encoder
terminal C
(common)
attached to
ground
65
Outline

 A few challenges with mechatronics projects

 Arduino introduction, and MathWorks packages

 Analog and Digital IO, blink challenge example

 DC and Stepper motors, Servos, Encoders

 Simulink blocks, more details, and useful links

66
Arduino IO Simulink library

 12 blocks:
 Setup and Pacer
 Analog and Digital IO
 Servos
 Encoders
 AF Motor Shield

 Blocks call the

corresponding Arduino
IO MATLAB function
each time they are
executed.
67
Example: blink challenge using Simulink

68
Example: blink challenge using Stateflow

69
Outline

 A few challenges with mechatronics projects

 Arduino introduction, and MathWorks packages

 Analog and Digital IO, blink challenge example

 DC and Stepper motors, Servos, Encoders

 Simulink blocks, more details, and useful links

70
Server sketch: basic architecture

void loop() {
val = one-byte input
… from the serial port
if (Serial.available() >0) {
val = Serial.read();
s = state
(initialized to -1)
switch (s) {
…
case 20: Calculate next state and
action (20,val) perform an action based
on both current state and
s (20,val) input
…
71
Using the server with a serial monitor

 The server can be used without MATLAB with a serial

terminal (or the IDE serial monitor) set on 115200 baud

Request

Answer

Arduino Side PC Side: Serial Terminal

(NOTE: Not MATLAB)

72
Using the server with a serial monitor

 Examples:
– 1c : reads digital pin #2 (c)
– 2n1 : sets digital pin #13 (n) high
– 4jz : analog output on pin #9 (j) to 122=ascii(z) over 255
– 6j1 : attaches servo on pin #9
– A1z : sets speed of motor #1 to 122 over 255 (122=ascii(z))
– D1fsz : does 122 steps on motor #1 forward in single (s) mode
– E0cd : attaches encoder #0 (0) on pins 2 (c) and 3 (d)
– G0 : gets position of encoder #0
– R2 : sets analog reference to EXTERNAL

 This is a good debugging strategy (e.g it allows

inserting printf statements in the sketch).

73
Customizing Arduino IO: roundTrip

The roundTrip function sends a value to the Arduino, the

board receives this value (see “case :400” in the code),
and then sends it back to MATLAB:

Sends byte >> roundTrip(a,42)

Receives byte
ans =

and sends it back 42

Arduino Side PC Side (MATLAB)

You can use this function as a starting point to customize

the server sketch and introduce your own code.
74
Supported boards

 Arduino boards:
– Duemilanove
– Uno
– Mega 2560
– Nano
– Due (only adio.pde and adioe.pde)
– Other boards like Mini or Pro may work but have not been tested.
 Digilent ChipKit boards:
– Uno32 (adio.pde only)
– Max32 (adio.pde only)
– Cerebot (adio.pde only)
 See the readme.txt file for more info

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Useful links: buying an Arduino

 An extensive list of sites where Arduino can be bought:

http://www.arduino.cc/en/Main/Buy

 In the US, Adafruit industries: http://www.adafruit.com/

provides a starter pack that includes pretty much
everything that you need to get started with the board.

 Sparkfun: https://www.sparkfun.com/

 Robotshop: http://www.robotshop.com/

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Useful links: buying motors

 RC Servos from Pololu:

http://www.pololu.com/catalog/category/23

 DC Motors from Pololu:

http://www.pololu.com/catalog/category/51

 Jameco for Stepper Motors and pretty much everything:

http://www.jameco.com/

 List of Hobbyist and Surplus Stores:

http://www.ladyada.net/library/procure/hobbyist.html

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Useful links: getting started guides

 Official Arduino web site: http://arduino.cc/en/

 Knowledge base: http://www.freeduino.org/

 Official Getting Started guide:

http://arduino.cc/en/Guide/HomePage
 The LadyAda Tutorial:
http://www.ladyada.net/learn/arduino/

 Download the MATLAB Arduino IO Package:

http://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/fileexchang
e/32374

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Conclusions

 Arduino is an inexpensive open-source microcontroller

board, well suited for a wide range of projects

 Arduino + ArduinoIO package + MATLAB =

inexpensive and interactive Analog and Digital IO from
the MATLAB command line

 Arduino + Motor Shield + ArduinoIO package + MATLAB

= inexpensive and interactive Motor Control from the
MATLAB command line

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